In Defense of Newt Gingrich

I wasn’t paying that close attention to the UTAH Republican Convention, and while I usually side with the side that pushes for younger reform minded conservatives to run for Senate and Congress, the fact that current Senator Bob Bennett won’t be on the ballot this November really doesn’t rank high to stories I pay attention too. However there were more than a few tweets calling out the Republicans who endorsed Bennett, one of whom was Newt Gingrich.

I seriously don’t get the beef some of my fellow eCons have with the former Speaker of the House. Yes, he doesn’t always endorse the prefered candidates that all the top conservatives on Twitter rally behind, and he did that commercial with Nancy Pelosi, to which I say of the former and the later…meh. He remains a) one of the top thinkers we have, b) one of our best debaters, c) one of the best at firing up the crowd, and d) one of the first on our side to exploit social media to get his messages(s) out there (see American Solutions, the Center for Health Transformation, and The Americano). Editor’s Note: I got a tweet from David All that it is also important to note in your post that Newt.org is fresh and interesting, which he’s absolutely right aboot.

And for all the rallying against the Obama Regime (suck it Chris Matthews), too many of our leaders seem to settle on a few catch phrases to get the crowd to cheer. Newt goes a different way. TechRepublican.com (one of the most important websites for you to visit at least once a day) was at Newt’s recent appearance the Heritage’s Blogger Briefing and had this to say…

Far too many conservative politicians are only saying no to Obama’s radical agenda and are not offering their own positive agenda for change. In 1994, there was no “Contract Against Bill Clinton” – it was the Contract for America. Newt argues that a party can’t govern by saying no – we have to answer these questions: “What are you going to do? What is your agenda?” He says we must win reaffirming elections in 2010 in which voters across America vote for something.

Conservatives should spend time talking about the Obama Spectacle – his “Secular Socialist Machine” that is routed in bad economic practices, dependence on the state, and poor diplomatic efforts. Once elected, conservative elected officials must repudiate everything this Administration has done to maintain credibility. We must offer a system of better solutions an offer a positive agenda that Americans can latch on to.

I want leaders who at least give me the impressions that they’ve thought long and seriously aboot the various issues facing our country, not who just toss red meat out the the audience. Hell, I can do that and I wouldn’t vote for me for local dog catcher. Rallying against President Obama is fine and good. Newt Gingrich can OUT DEBATE him, which personally I value a whole lot more.

Newt Gingrich isn’t the only “idea guy” we have (cats like Paul Ryan and Dan Senor come to mind), but in my opinion he’s one of the best.